We talk with Wendy Lill, chair of the Community Homes Action Group, to understand what the provincial budget means for people labeled with developmental disabilities who are locked up in institutions. or at home, waiting for an opportunity to live in the community like you and I. It doesn’t look good.
PSA: As part of a nation-wide Day of Mourning in Canada and the United States, disability rights advocates in the Halifax area will be holding a vigil on Sunday, March 1, 2020 to honor the lives of disabled people murdered by their families and caretakers.
With so many people on a waitlist for community-based living opportunities, the eight small option homes the government has committed to just don’t cut it, writes Wendy Lill of the Community Homes Action Group.
“The current complaint system at the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (NSHRC) doesn’t seem to be working. Those who have been traumatized by racism, sexism and hate are being re-victimized,” writes Raymond Sheppard.
Our roving reporter Judy Haiven witnessed an interaction between an older man and some cops and EHS personnel on a Halifax street. “Yes the man swore and demanded a ride to the hospital — he was not polite. But it dawned on me that he could have had mental health issues, or was very alone, or very scared. Maybe he was homeless; maybe he was drunk. The first responders’ reaction was to ridicule and threaten him with arrest,” writes Judy.
Alex Kronstein tackles what inclusive education should look like for autistic people. “By meaningfully engaging those who are under-represented and marginalized, it will be much easier to achieve full inclusion.”
Taylor Linloff writes about their experiences growing up in Cape Breton as a rural nonbinary femme on the autism spectrum.
January 20, 2020 On Sunday, it was brought to the attention of Autistics United Nova Scotia that two screenings of…
Locking up people who are intoxicated is most often a bad idea. It criminalizes people who live with addictions and need help.. We spoke with Harry Critchley of the East Coast Prison Justice Society to understand the alternatives out there and the case he and Dr. Leah Genge will be making at Monday’s Halifax Board of Police Commissioners.
Documenting the histories of local activism is of vital importance, and Before the Parade, a wonderful new book by Rebecca Rose on the history of Halifax’s gay, lesbian and bisexual communities in the seventies and early eighties is a very welcome addition.